


In Which Gwaine Likes Merlin's Eyes

by walkerofthestars



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gwaine just wanted to do the do, M/M, Magic Revealed, One Shot, he didn't realise he'd be questioning his opinions, i don't write this kind of stuff like ever i just got inspired, make out sesh, merlin's glowy eyes give him away, not explicit just realy close, probably not very good but I'm not gonna leave it unposted so whatever, quick write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25644769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkerofthestars/pseuds/walkerofthestars
Summary: Gwaine and Merlin have been stealing moments together for a while. Merlin should've known it would lead to disaster, all his romantic attempts do.at least this time it ends well.
Relationships: Mergwaine, Merlin/Gwaine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 164





	In Which Gwaine Likes Merlin's Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> look I don't write romance and smut and overdramatic kissing sessions, it's not my thing. I just got inspired cause I've been rewatching the show, and this happened.

Gwaine had _thought_ it was just the thrill.  
That’s what most of his adventures in love were, something exciting. That one was dramatic, this one was heroic, the other in constant danger, the next brushing with chaos. They lasted a week, a month maybe, short fits of passion and fun and always, _always_ exciting.  
Merlin seemed exciting.  
They met in a bar fight, that always boded well. And he was trudging around with some gallant fighter. He was good looking, bright, interesting. From there it just went on.  
Excitement. That’s what he thought it was.  
When he’d been knighted it was thrumming through him and he’d gotten careless, he’d pinned Merlin against a wall and shoved his tongue down the manservant’s throat. He almost expected Merlin to run off, instead he’d gotten one of the best make out sessions he’d had in years. Up until they’d heard someone coming down the hall and had to run off in separate directions.  
It was hard after that, they’d wanted to keep it secret. No one would be against it, but they didn’t know how this would go. Gwaine figured it’d be over soon anyway and Merlin seemed… like the sort who couldn’t stay in a relationship. He was too secretive, too unpredictable.  
But after a year they were still stealing moments. The excitement didn’t stop, but with it Gwaine felt… something new.  
They’d chased Morgana off once more, Arthur fuelled by his new fancy sword and the whole kingdom doing their best to move on and become better in the face of their adversity. Gwaine didn’t know what it was that made Merlin different and the more time he spent with him failed to help him figure it out.   
But either way, there was plenty of excitement, and for the first time they were actually in a bed to experience it.  
Gwaine trailed his lips along Merlin’s collar bone, his shirt already gone. Merlin’s hands were gripping Gwaine’s hair and the back of his neck, breathing heavily as Gwaine trailed along his skin and slowly drifted his hand under the drawstring of his pants.  
This wasn’t a first that the shirt had come off, but it was the first that Gwaine had had a chance to start pulling at the tie of Merlin’s pants.  
Merlin’s lips hovered over Gwaine’s neck, his breath hot against Gwaine’s skin. As Gwaine tugged Merlin’s pants down he sighed, Merlin beginning to kiss at Gwaine’s neck, under his ear.  
Gwaine earned a groan as he pulled away, but the hands in his hair quickly returned after he lowered his lips to Merlin’s chest, trailing down, down, down, pants still on but far down enough that Gwaine could do what he wanted.  
He didn’t notice the objects in the room beginning to float.  
He teased Merlin with his mouth, hovered before the very place Merlin wanted him to go, hand between his thighs. Gwaine hadn’t expected it, but soon Merlin got tired of waiting. He tugged Gwaine by the shoulders of his shirt and rolled him over. Gwaine let out a small noise as Merlin attacked his throat with his mouth. Gwaine’s shirt finally came off as well.  
As his hand lowered and Merlin’s mouth returned to his neck, Gwaine finally noticed the magic in the room.  
His armour was floating, his clothes, too. The candle was burning with a coloured glow, seemingly alive as it moved and flickered.   
Gwaine’s mind was slow, but once he turned back to face Merlin he figured it out. Gold flashed in his eyes, the gilded glow of magic.  
Merlin seemed to realise it at the same time, the objects came crashing own, the candle winked out. He had already tied his pants back up before Gwaine had a chance to process anything.  
“Merlin.” The word came out of his mouth with a strange tone to it, he couldn’t discern what it was himself.  
Merlin took it to be a threat.  
His foot hit the ground, shoulder catching in the curtain of Gwaine’s bed as he lurched away from the sheets.  
“Wai- Merlin!” Gwaine called after him, hand catching his wrist as his friend- lover- turned away.  
Merlin tugged, his free hand flying to wrench his captured one free, he didn’t seem to know what to say, but eventually a struggling and scared sound came out, “Gwaine.”  
“Merlin, please,” Gwaine tugged him forward and grabbed his other arm, “what-“  
“I can’t explain,” Merlin said, still tugging away, “you weren’t- I- didn’t want you to find out like this.”  
Gwaine grit his teeth and pulled Merlin back into the bed, pushing him down and straddling him as he had before.  
“Didn’t want me to find out at all more like,” he said, the words rushing past his mouth before he could control them. They sounded far too angry to be his own, too volatile. Why would he turn hate towards Merlin?   
There were tears in merlin’s eyes, just slightly, pricking at the corners. Even still he pursed his lips and controlled himself, looking away from Gwaine’s gaze.  
“magic is illegal in Camelot, Merlin-“  
“I know.”  
“why would you…” Gwaine couldn’t figure out what to say, he didn’t know what to think.  
Merlin shut his eyes, screwed them tight.  
“Merlin why not run? Somewhere you can be free? Arthur, he’ll-“  
“I know,” Merlin said, voice hollow.  
“then why-“  
“I need to protect Arthur, protect Camelot.”  
Gwaine blinked. He could not figure out what to do about this. Merlin had magic. Magic was illegal. He could not let this remain a secret, he was a knight. Sorcerers and warlocks, all they wanted was power and chaos.  
Gwaine looked at Merlin, resigned to whatever Gwaine decided to do in the next few seconds. Merlin had only ever stood by Arthur’s side, had only ever been a friend.  
Gwaine groaned and dropped his head against Merlin’s chest. He couldn’t make this decision. He couldn’t. he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if his actions lead to merlin on a pyre.   
“Gwaine?”  
“how can you have magic?” Gwaine’s voice was small, “how? I… you can’t be a sorcerer.”  
“Warlock,” he said.  
Gwaine’s head raised slightly, just enough to flick his eyes to meet Merlin’s. they’d been beautiful when they were gold, hypnotic and mystical. Before Gwaine had had the chance to figure out what the colour had meant he’d been drawn to them, wanted to stare at them forever.  
“warlock?” he asked.  
Merlin opened his mouth, trying to find the words, “I… was born with magic.”  
“that’s impossible.”  
“what would you know?” The words seemed to leave Merlin’s mouth before he could control them.   
“I wouldn’t,” Gwaine conceded, “but…” he shook his head.  
No, this made sense. When he thought about it, it did. All the times a tree had broken or a wall had collapsed or a root had been perfectly placed to trip someone, all coincidently, it had been him. every time Morgana had suddenly been thwarted. All the small things piling up, and the big things with them.  
“how could I have been so stupid?” Gwaine said, he ran a hand down his face, “it’s so obvious.”  
“what are you going to do?”  
Gwaine looked down at merlin, expression not… scared, but daunted. He knew the chances and the consequences, but he was determined to remain stoic.  
Gwaine frowned, trying to figure out words, trying to make a decision. There were so many nuances and contradictions, things he needed to consider before he made a decision.   
Or, he could keep it simple.  
Did he want Merlin to die? No.  
Was he willing to risk the chance by telling someone he had magic? No.  
Then what decision was there really to make.  
Gwaine shifted his weight and sat to the side, one leg against Merlin’s the other still over his lover’s legs. Merlin sat up, staring at him in masked confusion.  
“I won’t tell anyone.”  
“you… won’t?”  
“no.”  
“but-“  
“I don’t know why either.” He grinned at Merlin and clapped him on the shoulder, “but I trust you, which means I don’t think you’re some stark raving lunatic.”  
Merlin stared at Gwaine’s hand on his bare shoulder, “thanks?”  
Gwaine sighed, “why didn’t you tell me?”  
“I couldn’t be certain… that you wouldn’t tell someone,” Merlin said, “I need to be able to stay in Camelot, to protect Arthur.”  
“why?”  
“there’s- it’s… a long story,” Merlin said.  
“complicated?”  
“very.”  
“ah,” Gwaine said. Still looking at Merlin’s face, even as he watched the bedsheets. He raised his hand, Merlin flinched, and Gwaine stared at him with a look that he hoped translated all his apology without words. He brushed his knuckles against Merlin’s temple, his friend leaned into it, taking Gwaine’s hand in his own.  
“can you do it on command?” Gwaine asked.  
“what?”  
“the glowy eyes,” he said, smile curling his lips, “can you do them whenever you like?”  
“it’s… an aftereffect of magic.”  
“can you do it again?”  
Merlin blinked, hands shifting as he brought Gwaine’s hand to his lips. Gwaine felt his hot breath against his fingers as Merlin spoke, and his eyes flashed gold once more. Something tickled the inside of Gwaine’s hand. Merlin drifted his hand away from his mouth and unwrapped Gwaine’s hand to reveal the unfurled petals of a flower.  
Gwaine smiled and tucked the flower behind his ear, “but can you do it for longer than a second?”  
“I don’t think so, unless a spell takes longer than a second.”  
“but they were doing it before,” Gwaine said, “they were glowing before.”  
Merlin raised an eyebrow, “I hadn’t noticed.”  
“well, it was like this,” Gwaine smiled, he leaned forward and locked lips once more with Merlin, he was considering pushing him onto the bed again, merlin beat him to it.   
By the time they pulled apart, Gwaine had managed success, Merlin’s eyes were aglow.  
“there,” he said, grinning, “no spells.”  
Merlin huffed a laugh, eyes still shining. Gwaine pulled him down, nose against nose with Merlin, foreheads pressed together.  
Gwaine cupped Merlin’s cheeks, staring, entranced, “how can something so beautiful be so bad?”  
“Magic isn’t bad. not on its own,” merlin said, “a sword is not evil, it is up to those who wield it to decide its reputation.”  
Gwaine chuckled, letting his hands drift around Merlin’s head, brushing through soft hair, and resting behind his neck. Merlin leaned into the touch, and Gwaine pulled him down into a kiss.  
“any more questions?” merlin asked, voice soft.  
“not right now,” Gwaine groaned, “in the morning.”  
Merlin laughed, leaning back, Gwaine pulled him down once more.  
“I’m serious,” he said, “get down here and finish what you started.”  
Maybe it was the excitement, maybe it wasn’t. but whatever it was, it had Gwaine’s blood running and his heart thrumming, and that was enough for him.  
because no harm would come to Merlin- and if it did, it would be over Gwaine’s dead body.


End file.
